


the cat's out of the bag

by plastic--hearts (paperxvalentines)



Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cats, Love Confessions, M/M, Neighbors, i have no idea when this takes place
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-13 23:02:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11770257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperxvalentines/pseuds/plastic--hearts
Summary: When Minhyuk agreed to look after Jinwoo's cat, he didn't expect Sanha's revelation to come out of it.





	the cat's out of the bag

**Author's Note:**

> I only realised after I was halfway through this that I gave the cat the same name as Sanha’s girlfriend in TBC. Then I intentionally made a slight TBC reference.
> 
> Once again, the rest of Astro aren't in this. One day I'll incorporate all of them from the get-go. One day.
> 
> Also!! This is loosely based off of [this prompt](http://otpprompts.tumblr.com/post/123022053566/imagine-person-a-just-adopted-a-new-pet-but-has). (I know nothing about cats I'm sorry!!)

“What- Seriously, Jinwoo, you can’t just-” Minhyuk’s complaints were cut short when the plastic cat travel cage was shoved into his arms. 

“You _said_ you would,” Jinwoo reminded him, raising an eyebrow. “You said you’d take care of Ye-Jin while I was gone.” 

Minhyuk sighed, shoulders dropping in defeat. “I thought you meant- When you said take care of her, I figured you meant me stopping by your flat and feeding her twice a day.” 

“What difference does it make? I live two floors below you.” 

“Exactly, so why-” 

“Because I’d like it better if she had someone with her,” Jinwoo stated, crossing his arms on his chest, signalling to Minhyuk that the argument was over. 

“Okay,” Minhyuk sighed, turning around and putting the cage down in the entryway of his flat. “What do I need to know?” 

“Well, she eats twice a day.” Jinwoo pointed to a bag leaning against the doorframe, beside Minhyuk. “A can of food for each meal. Sometimes she doesn’t finish all her food in one go, but that’s fine, she goes back to it during the day. Oh, and remember to keep her water bowl filled. That’s in the bag, too, along with some toys for her. You know her, I’m sure this won’t be an issue.” 

Minhyuk wasn’t convinced, but he didn’t have the patience to hear all the details about Jinwoo’s cat and her habits. 

“Yeah, I’m sure.” 

Jinwoo clapped a hand down on Minhyuk’s shoulder, smiling brightly. “I knew I could count on you! Well, I’ll be off. See you in a week Ye-Jin!” 

Minhyuk rolled his eyes, picking up the bag and dropping it inside his flat. “Bye, Jinwoo.” 

“Bye Minhyuk! Send me pictures!” 

With a nod, Minhyuk closed his door, and turned around to look at the cage. 

With a sigh, he bent down and opened the latch, letting the black and white cat out before pushing the cage to the side. 

“Alright, well… Welcome to your home for the next week.” 

\------ 

Minhyuk should’ve asked Jinwoo for more details, because by the time the second day came around, he was in a crisis. 

“You’re a cat. You don’t _do_ much,” Minhyuk muttered, crawling on his hands and knees trying to find Ye-Jin. “But where in the world could you be?” 

After a few more minutes of searching, Minhyuk gave up with a sigh. She had to be somewhere in his flat, and she would surely emerge at dinner time. He didn’t need to worry just yet. 

When she didn't show up for dinner, that's when he really started to panic. He started thinking of ways he would break the news to Jinwoo without it resulting in his own demise. Needless to say, the outlook wasn't too good. 

Suddenly, he had an idea. Quickly, he made his way to the door, getting slippers on quickly before leaving his flat and knocking on the door next to his. He didn't have to wait long before he heard a slight thud on the other side, and then the door swung open, revealing his slightly dishevelled neighbour. 

“Oh, Minhyuk, hi,” the tall brunet greeted him as he rubbed his right elbow. “What’s up?” 

“Hi Sanha,” Minhyuk replied, before gesturing to his arm. Ignoring Sanha’s question, he asked, “What did you do this time?” 

Sanha gave him a look, a slight pout on his lips. “You know exactly what I did.” With the tone of his voice and his slightly oversized dark green sweater, Sanha looked sort of like an angry child: too cute to be convincing. 

Minhyuk brushed those thoughts away with a shake of his head. “I’m telling you, move those shelves somewhere else. Anyways, I need your help. You have a cat, right?” 

“Uh, yeah.” Sanha nodded uncertainly. “You don’t need to ask me that. You’ve met her, multiple times.” 

Minhyuk huffed, refraining from rolling his eyes. “Well, I lost my cat, and I was wondering whether you could help me find her, because I have no idea how to go about it.” 

“Hmm, well, what does she like- Wait, hold on.” Sanha’s eyes widened, his mouth opening comically in realisation. “Is she white with black spots? Really fluffy?” 

“Yeah!” Minhyuk nodded eagerly, glad to have a lead. “Have you seen her?” 

“Oh my gosh, she's yours? I found her roaming the hallway earlier so I brought her in! I was going to put up Missing Cat signs around!” Sanha exclaimed before pointing his thumb behind him. “Come in! I didn’t know you had a cat!” 

“I don’t,” Minhyuk explained, following Sanha in and closing the door behind him. He took his slippers off before padding into Sanha’s cozy flat. “It’s Jinwoo’s. I said I’d take care of her for a week while he’s off visiting his family, but I have no idea how to do that.” 

“What, take care of a cat? It’s the easiest thing, but then again, you can barely take care of yourself.” 

Minhyuk would’ve smacked Sanha for his sass if it wasn’t for the fact that he had essentially saved his life. “I don't know how she got out.” 

“You know you're careless,” Sanha pointed out, before ducking behind the off-white counter which separated the living room from the kitchenette. “Did you do laundry between the time you got her and now?” 

“Uh, yeah, I did.” Minhyuk took a seat on the armrest of the old brown couch, eyes trailed on the kitchen. 

“You have a tendency of leaving your door open. I know this because I've seen you do it on multiple occasions.” 

Sanha then reemerged, holding the fluffy cat in his hands. “This who you’re looking for?” 

“Oh my god, _yes_ ,” Minhyuk breathed out in relief, getting up and reaching for the cat. “Ye-Jin, don’t do that again.” He sat back down, still holding her gently. 

Sanha raised his eyebrows at Minhyuk’s words, leaning forward and propping his head up in his hands, elbows on the counter. “Ye-Jin, hunh? That was my first girlfriend’s name.” 

Minhyuk paused his petting for a second. They were venturing into relationship talk, which was basically uncharted territory for them. “Oh really?” Minhyuk responded, feeling his heart beating against his ribcage. 

“Yeah.” Sanha nodded, and Minhyuk had to look away. The sight was adorable, but he couldn’t look at Sanha like that while he was talking about a girl. “She was almost as cute as her, too.” 

“That's pretty cute,” Minhyuk murmured, hoping his voice wouldn’t betray his racing heart. 

“Hmm.” 

He heard Sanha shuffling around in the kitchen and the fridge door opening. 

“What happened?” He didn’t want to know, but he felt like it was the right thing to say. 

“Realised that I liked boys more.” The sound of the fridge door closing accompanied his revelation. “It’s cool though, we were like, 15. It ended on good terms.” 

“Oh.” Minhyuk then looked up, not expecting to meet Sanha’s eyes immediately. He saw the younger boy’s expression change from indifferent to slightly apprehensive as their gazes met. 

“I- Uh- Yeah.” 

“You never told me…” 

“It never came up.” 

Minhyuk nodded, and they sat in awkward silence for a moment. Ye-Jin jumped off of Minhyuk’s lap, and Minhyuk’s eyes followed her bushy black tail until she disappeared behind the counter. He then cleared his throat, and looked back at Sanha. “Well, you know I don’t- It’s not a big deal to me.” 

Sanha nodded. “Yeah, I know,” he murmured, eyes trailed on the orange he had just begun peeling. “I just pictured this very differently.” 

“What, coming out to me?” 

“Yeah.” 

Minhyuk shrugged, before letting a smile tug at the corners of his lips. He stood up and leaned against the counter in front of Sanha. “Well, how did you picture it happening?” he asked, hoping that a touch of playfulness was evident in his voice. 

“I pictured it being a bit more serious,” Sanha said before shoving at least three orange slices into his mouth at once and looking up at Minhyuk. “Not because of a cat,” he then added, voice muffled due to the fruit. 

Minhyuk couldn’t help the fond laugh that escaped him, the awkwardness that had enveloped them dissipating quickly as they fell back into their usual banter. “I can’t believe it took me losing Jinwoo’s cat for you to tell me this _colossal_ secret.” 

Sanha huffed, swallowing his mouthful and rolling his eyes. Before he could say anything though, Minhyuk exclaimed, “Hey, don’t roll your eyes at me! I’m older than you, you should treat me with respect!” 

“What’cha going to do about it, hunh?” Sanha teased, eyes sparkling. “You’re too short to do any damage to me.” 

“Yeah, but I’m definitely stronger than you,” Minhyuk stated, sliding around the end of the counter so that he could be beside Sanha. “I could take you down.” 

“I’d like to see you try!” Sanha squeaked, narrowly avoiding Minhyuk’s swiping hands as he ran past him to the living room, orange still in hand. “My legs are longer!” 

“All they’re good for is tripping over things!” Minhyuk countered, laughing as he chased Sanha around the tiny living room, dodging the orange peels being thrown at him. Sanha’s legs did give him an advantage, allowing him to climb across the back of the couch in two strides. 

However, Minhyuk was faster. He lunged at Sanha from the side, knocking the two of them back onto the couch. Since it was so old, they both sunk into it slightly, making it harder for Sanha to push Minhyuk off, no matter how hard he tried. 

“Ah! Okay, I surrender!” Sanha shrieked, pausing his shoving in order to take deep breaths, his chest pushing up against Minhyuk’s. 

After a moment of heavy breathing, Minhyuk took in their position. Their legs were tangled, one of Sanha’s arms was awkwardly trapped between Minhyuk and the couch, and Minhyuk’s face was just a few centimeters short of being tucked against the taller boy’s neck. 

“Minhyuk, get up,” Sanha muttered, trying to wiggle his arm out. 

Minhyuk put a hand along the edge of the couch, managing to lift himself enough for Sanha to move, before falling back into his original position. “You need a new couch.” 

“Yeah, I know.” 

They were quiet for a moment before Sanha spoke up again. “I think we’re stuck.” 

Minhyuk huffed and rolled his eyes, but he didn’t mean anything by it. “This isn’t quicksand, Sanha.” 

“Get up, then!” 

Minhyuk weighed his options. With much difficulty, he could get up if he wanted to. But did he really want to? 

“Nah.” 

“But it’s hot and I’m tired.” Minhyuk lifted his head to look at Sanha, but any sarcastic comment he had to make got caught in his throat when he realised how close their faces were. 

On a normal day, Minhyuk would’ve made a joke, and the two friends would’ve laughed before rolling off the couch, or into a more comfortable position. 

With Sanha’s revelation still fresh in his mind, though, Minhyuk couldn’t think of anything witty to say. The filter on his brain had been turned off, letting all the thoughts about how cute Sanha was and how much he wanted to be with him crash through. He had been avoiding those thoughts for months, thinking that it would be better in the long run to never acknowledge them than to let them ruin him. 

They were definitely ruining him now. 

It was a jab to his side that brought him back to the present. “Minhyuk, what’s up with you?” 

“Nothing, sorry, got lost in thought,” Minhyuk murmured, before pushing himself back and into a sitting position by Sanha’s knees. 

Sanha pushed himself up as well, eyeing Minhyuk. “That’s unlike you. It’s my job to daydream.” 

Minhyuk just shot Sanha a slight smile. He couldn't focus on the other’s words; all he could see was his ruffled brown hair, his curious eyes, his full pink lips. Sanha looked like he had just stepped out of Minhyuk’s dreams, and the latter wasn't sure how to process that. 

“Seriously, what's up?” Sanha asked again, moving to sit beside Minhyuk, and placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“No, nothing, I'm fine,” Minhyuk insisting, before inhaling sharply. “I am hungry though, and I should probably feed Ye-Jin now. Do you want to get dinner?” 

Sanha nodded, pursed lips curling in the corners. “Okay, sounds good.” 

Minhyuk was glad that Sanha didn't pry. Although he acted like a child most of the time, he knew when it was time to be serious. That was yet another thing Minhyuk liked about the boy. Yet another thing to add to the ever growing list. 

The two friends got up, and Minhyuk murmured, “I'm going to get dressed, I'll be back in five minutes,” before picking up Ye-Jin and making a beeline for the door. He didn't even hear Sanha’s response in his hurry to leave. 

Back in his apartment, he busied himself with feeding the cat before he could worry about what he’d wear. 

Wait, _worry_? Minhyuk had no reason to worry. This was _Sanha,_ his next door neighbour and possibly closest friend. He had seen him at his worst. Sanha didn't care about what Minhyuk looked like… 

So why did Minhyuk suddenly care so much? 

He couldn't believe Sanha’s simple admission had sent him into such a frenzy. He huffed, placing Ye-Jin’s bowl on the floor in front of her, and headed to his room. He pulled on the first hoodie he could find in the dresser and decided against changing out of his sweatpants. He pulled on some clean socks as well, then his sneakers at the door. When he left his flat this time, he made sure to close the door and lock it, pressing down on the handle to make sure. 

He fought the urge to look at himself in the reflective doors of the elevator, and let himself into Sanha’s flat, almost stumbling over Sanha in the process. 

“Oh, sorry Sanha,” Minhyuk murmured, moving back a couple steps from where Sanha was sitting, putting on his shoes. 

“It’s fine, I had a feeling you would run into me anyways.” Sanha then got up and brushed the creases out of his jeans. “Let's go!” 

Minhyuk just nodded, stepping into the hallway to let Sanha close the door and lock it. He hadn't changed out of his green sweatshirt, but he was now wearing black jeans that made his legs look a mile long. 

On a normal day, Minhyuk would've made a joke about Sanha resembling a stick insect and they would've laughed (well, _Minhyuk_ would’ve - Sanha would've pouted). On a normal day, there would've been no traces of awkwardness between them as they’d fight to call and get into the elevator before the other. 

Today wasn't a normal day. Not for Minhyuk, at least. So when he simply let Sanha press the button for the elevator, Sanha knew something was definitely wrong. 

“Minhyuk… Are you sick?” 

“Just hungry. And tired. I was worrying about that damn cat all day…” 

In an attempt to regain normalcy, Minhyuk shoved Sanha to the side when the elevator doors opened and dashed in, grinning when the other whined. 

As they made their way to their usual kimbap place, Minhyuk attempted to make a couple jokes, but kept getting distracted by Sanha, who would start laughing even before the punchline. 

During dinner, though, he was silent. Sanha was doing most of the talking, which was always the case anyways, but this time Minhyuk wasn't listening. He was too busy eyeing Sanha, watching the different expressions on his face and the way his lips moved when he talked. 

Minhyuk thought that Sanha hadn't caught on, but it turns out, he had underestimated him. 

As they were finishing with their meal, Sanha sighed. Minhyuk was opening his mouth to ask why when the other spoke. “Is this- Are you acting weird because of what I said?” Sanha didn't beat around the bush. Minhyuk usually liked that about him. Today, it just made him feel bad. 

Minhyuk looked up from his wallet to his friend, who was already looking at him with intense eyes. “What? No, Sanha,” he replied, trying to seem convincing. From the way Sanha’s face fell, he realised he had failed at that. “Sanha… It's not like that.” 

“Then what is it, Minhyuk? You've been staring at me like I'm some sort of- of alien since the moment I told you!” 

Minhyuk sighed. He didn’t want his feelings to be known by Sanha, not just yet, but he had brought it upon himself. “Let's just- Can we pay first?” 

Sanha just huffed, looking away from Minhyuk. 

He didn’t look at Minhyuk once after that, not even on their walk back nor in the elevator. Minhyuk would’ve been upset if it wasn’t for the fact that his mind was racing with possible explanations. There really wasn’t much he could say: Sanha already knew half the reason why Minhyuk was acting weird. What could he say in order to save the situation? What could he say that _wouldn’t_ come out sounding negative? 

It was when they stepped out of the elevator and were standing between the doors to their respective flats that Sanha finally looked at him. “Explain.” 

Minhyuk almost winced at Sanha’s harsh tone. “Look, Sanha, I-” 

“Do you see me differently?” Sanha interrupted. “I’ve been thinking about it all night, and none of it makes sense. You’re friends with Jinwoo, you can’t hate me. Then what is it? Because I don’t want to lose you and I just don’t understand what could be going through your head right now, I _feel like_ you hate me but it doesn’t make sense, none of-” 

“It’s the opposite, Sanha,” Minhyuk murmured, wanting to look away from Sanha’s intense gaze but willing himself not to. “It’s the opposite.” 

“The- The opposite?” Sanha’s eyebrows furrowed. “What does that even mean?” 

“You said that I can’t hate you. You’re right, I can’t, because…” Minhyuk took a deep breath. “I like you. I have for months, and I’ve always just- Just pushed the feelings away because I didn’t know whether or not I would even have a chance. And then you went and said that you like-” 

Sanha’s soft hands on his cheeks cut Minhyuk off. His mouth was still open, but no words were coming out. Sanha’s expression revealed nothing about his feelings. 

Well, nothing until he leant down and kissed him. 

Minhyuk certainly hadn’t expected that, but he reciprocated the kiss quickly, letting his eyes flutter shut. The kiss didn’t last very long, and when they pulled away, Minhyuk knew he was blushing, but Sanha’s face was completely tinted pink. His hands fell back to his sides, and before Minhyuk could say another word, he slipped past him and into his flat, shutting the door loudly behind him. 

Minhyuk stood there for a moment longer, fingers touching the side of his face gently before a smile broke out onto his face. He turned to look at Sanha’s door, deciding against entering. He knew Sanha would want some time to hide and to recover from the embarrassment. 

Next time, though, he’d kiss Sanha first.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure how I feel about this oneshot but I hope you guys like it!! thank you to everyone who encouraged me to write this!! ♡ 
> 
> (I also didn't rly proofread this so I apologise for any dumb mistakes)


End file.
